The Money Is Green (19 page)

Brian looked at her in silence, slowly sipping his drink. He shook the almost empty glass, rattling the ice cubes around. “Look, I’m sorry,” he said softly. “Once you get some of the bugs worked out of your company and Jason has a chance to change some of your business practices for the better, I swear I’ll give you a shot at one of our projects. I think Copper Mountain is just too big for you at this stage of your growth.”

Seething, Mei looked at him for a second. “Does anybody else know of your decision?” she asked.

He shook his head as he shifted to the edge of his chair. “No, I haven’t shared this with anyone else. I wanted you to hear it first. I thought it would only be fair.”

You wanted to tell me yourself, right, Mei thought. Too big a project for Soltech. What a crock! My solar panels could hold up as well as any made. They’ve made it through some of the most rigorous testing done on panels. Is he just being stubborn or is he trying to punish me? What does he know about Andrew Dillon’s death? Did Congressman Waters’s hitman screw up and leave a trail? I doubt it. Brian’s probably guessing, but still, I don’t like where this is going.

Reaching out, she grabbed the glass from his hand. “I’m sorry, I almost forgot my manners. Let me refresh this for you.” She turned and walked out of the room into the spacious kitchen. She barely heard him say, “Thank you,” as she turned the corner.

A bottle of Maker’s Mark Kentucky Bourbon sat on the off-white Corian countertop. Pushing his glass against the indented ice dispenser on the stainless steel refrigerator, she watched as the ice cubes tumbled into the clear glass. It’s time for a new approach, she thought. I don’t seem to be getting through to him, and I think he’s made up his mind to give Copper Mountain away to someone else. She pulled open the refrigerator and grabbed the tall bottle of clear liquid from the door’s shelf she had placed there the day before. It had
a white label across the front with the word “tea” written across it. Spinning the lid off quickly, she poured an ounce and a half of the liquid over the whiskey drink and set the bottle back on the shelf. As she closed the refrigerator door, she swirled the drink around, holding it up to the light. Filling the glass with the Maker’s Mark, she took a sniff and smiled to herself. It smells like bourbon. This will be a game changer.

Returning to the living area, she handed Brian his drink, poured herself some more champagne, and curled up on the couch, adjusting her robe to cover her legs. She raised her glass in a salute. “Well, Brian, here’s to Copper Mountain success. I know you’ll do well with it, whoever you chose to buy the solar panels from.”

He smiled and lifted his glass. “Thank you, Mei. You’ve always been a good sport. I know there will be many more projects for us.” He took a long drink and set his glass on the coffee table. Pointing at his glass he commented, “That is such great bourbon, I could drink the whole bottle.”

Mei returned the smile as he looked over the top of her glass at him. “I think you should do that.

T
WENTY
-F
IVE

J
ason set the phone down on his desk and ran a hand through his hair. He knew this time was going to come; now he had to get ready. That sure was odd about Brian. That was the fourth time he’d left him a message in three days and he hadn’t heard back from him. He knew Brian and Mei were meeting in Hong Kong, but he hadn’t heard from her either. That was unusual for both of them. The pieces weren’t fitting together. He picked up his phone and dialed. Janine answered on the first ring.

“Hi, Jason, thank you for last night. That was nice.”

The thought of her naked body in bed and the sensual lovemaking they’d made came flashing to his mind. Crystal had had a school function to go to, which freed him up to be with Janine for part of the night. I wish every night could be like that, he thought. “No, thank
you
, Janine. I had a wonderful time. It was a special evening for me.” He paused, trying to figure out how to continue. “I just got a call from my boss,” he said. “We landed that big project I told you about and she wants me to be in Shanghai on Saturday to get the facility geared up to meet the production goals required by the developer.”

“Wow, congratulations! I know you’ve spent a lot of time on that project and I know how much it means to you. I’m excited for you.”

“Thank you, but now I need to ask a favor.” He took a deep breath. “I’m going to be gone for about six days and would be hugely in debt to you if you could stay at my place with Crystal while I’m gone. I know we talked about this before, but it came up faster than I thought it would.”

Janine paused for a second and cleared her throat before speaking. “Of course I’ll stay with her, Jason. Don’t worry about a thing. You go over to China and do your thing and we’ll both be fine. Both of us can survive six days with each other.”

I sure hope so, he thought. It’s not you I worry about, Janine. He breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you so much, Janine. I’ll go over the details with you later. I’ve got a few errands to run before I pick up Crystal. I’ll call you later.”

Hanging up, he stared at the phone for a second. I’ve been a fool for a long time. Janine is a beautiful, sincere, and good person, and yet I’ve not given her the love that she deserves. That’s going to change. He set the phone down and called out to his administrative assistant who sat outside his office. “Susan, I need for you to arrange some flights and hotels for me for Saturday. I’ll write down the details for you.”

His cellphone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and stared at the number. Who’s this? He answered, “Hello?”

A male voice on the other line said, “Andrew Dillon’s death was no random murder.”

Jason bolted upright in his chair. “Who’s this? What do you know about the murder?”

“Who I am is unimportant. Do some homework. You’re playing in dangerous waters.”

The line went dead.

♦

Crystal spotted her father’s white BMW as she and her teammates were doing their final wind sprints to end soccer practice. She knew his presence meant something was up, as she normally caught a ride with one of her teammates’ mothers. Maybe I can talk him into going for pizza after we’re done. She finished her sprints and listened to her coach’s final thoughts for the day, then grabbed her backpack on the sidelines and headed to the car.

She opened the back door and flung her backpack in before sliding into the passenger seat. “Hi, Dad,” she said cheerfully. “I’m surprised to see you here. What’s the occasion?”

He smiled at her and then made a disappointed face. “What, I can’t come and watch my wonderful daughter practice soccer?”

She turned and narrowed her eyes. “Of course you can. It’s just not that usual for you to do it. Games, yes, you’re always there. Practice, no.”

Putting the car in gear, he pulled away from the curb, slowly checking his side mirror for traffic. “Okay, I have to confess. I’ve been called to go to China for a few days starting Saturday. I’m going to try to get a flight late enough that I can catch your game but I’m not sure that will be possible.”

Crystal leaned back in her seat and turned to look out the window. “Okay, I see. So who will you pawn me off on while you’re gone? Please don’t tell me I’m staying with Janine.”

He gripped the steering wheel and sighed. “Look, Crystal. I’m in a bind and Janine volunteered to help out. It will only be for a couple of days and then I’ll be back. I thought maybe she could take you to look at those houses we checked on last Sunday. If you like one or more of them, when I get back we can see if we could put in an offer to buy it and then arrange to move.”

Folding her arms across her chest, she continued to stare out the window. “So, is Janine going to move in with us now at our new
place?” she asked in a defiant tone. “Why should she be involved in choosing where we live?”

A car zipped by on their right side, startling him. “I didn’t say she was going to help you choose a place, only that she could drive you to the places to check them out. What would you like to do for dinner? I’m hungry.”

“How about a pizza? We haven’t done that in a couple of weeks.”

“Okay, a pizza it is,” her dad said as he started to merge into the right lane.

After eating, they got home and Crystal headed to her room, closing the door behind her. She dialed Steve and waited for him to pick up.

“Hello?”

“Hey, meet me in the park in twenty minutes,” she whispered into the phone.

“No, let’s meet at the burger joint across the street from the park. I’m hungry for some French fries.”

“Okay, I’ll see you there.”

Crystal came out of her room and stood by her dad, who was sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper. “Hey, Dad, can I run over to Claire’s and go over my history homework with her?”

Setting it down, he looked up. “Sure, go ahead. Make sure you get home before dark, okay?”

She nodded and headed for the front door. “Okay.”

Ten minutes later she was sitting next to Steve outside the restaurant under an umbrella covering a white metal table. Steve took the last French fry and popped it in his mouth, wiping his fingers with a small paper napkin as he slowly chewed it. After a couple of minutes, he reached into his shirt pocket and produced a joint and promptly lit it. He took a drag and then held it out to her.

Shaking her head, she said to him, “Steve put that away. You’re in a public place and that stuff is illegal. You know there are studies that say smoking weed gives you brain damage.”

He started laughing, coughing, and spitting smoke out. “I’m already brain-damaged,” he croaked. “What’s a little more gonna do?”

She pushed him playfully. “Yeah, you’ve got a point. I guess the only thing that could get worse for you is if you become braindead. I’m not even sure that hasn’t occurred already.” She looked around the deserted courtyard nervously.

“Oh, look at you, Miss Four-Point-Oh. Just because I don’t get straight A’s like you do doesn’t mean I’m dumb.”

“I didn’t say you were dumb, just that if you continue smoking weed every day you’re not going to grow smarter. When do you get your permanent driver’s license? Aren’t they going to send it to you?”

“Yeah, I get it a week from tomorrow.” He took a deep drag and held his breath for a few seconds before exhaling. “Then it’s going to be a new world for me.”

Tugging on his shirt she said to him, “And for me too. Don’t forget.”

He smiled and leaned into her. “Of course I won’t forget you. We’ve got a big road trip coming up.”

She clasped her hands together. “I can’t wait. My dad is leaving for China on Saturday and I’m going to be stuck with his bitch girlfriend for a week. I can’t wait to surprise my mother and get away from all this crap.”

“But your dad is cool. I thought you get along well with him.”

“I do get along with my dad, as long as he’s not around that dopey girlfriend.” She rubbed her hands on her thighs. “My mom hates her worse than I do, and just being around her bugs me. She’s always trying to be nice and trying to be my friend.” She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her chest. “Ugh, it drives me nuts.”

“Your dad isn’t an idiot. She must have some good qualities for him to date her. She can’t be that bad.”

Crystal felt her cheeks flush in anger. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Steve. This woman is an evil homewrecker and
I don’t want anything to do with her. If I can ruin my dad’s relationship with her, I will. Gladly.”

“Hey, Crystal,” he said defensively, “I didn’t mean to get you all fired up. I was just saying this lady seems to be a nice woman and is only trying to help out you and your dad. I don’t know the history she has, but it seems she’s trying to make an effort to be friendly, and maybe you should too.”

Crystal put her chin in her hands and let out a big sigh. “I don’t know, Steve. I don’t know what to believe anymore. My mom tells me one story and my dad tells me another. I don’t know who to believe. All I know is I can’t wait to get out of this town.”

T
WENTY
-S
IX

T
he floor of the House of Representatives of the United States was alive and buzzing on Wednesday morning as congressmen and women, all dressed in business suits and looking professional, gathered in groups of threes and fours to discuss upcoming legislation. The Speaker of the House stood at the podium, a serious expression on her face as she listened to a congressman from New York introduce a bill requiring car companies to cut back the emissions of all new cars thirty percent after the year 2025. Hardly anyone listened to the congressman, as they all had previously received a condensed version of the bill. Most house members gave it to one of their staff members to read and dissect and to advise on whether to vote yea or nay on the legislation.

Congressman Waters stood off to the side of the Speaker’s podium, flirting with a young female aide to another California congressman who was in the chamber to listen to the bill.

She looked to be about twenty-five, with long blonde hair, blue eyes, and a tall slender physique. She held a file against her chest and tried to listen to the congressman at the podium introducing the bill and still not be rude to Congressman Waters.

“So, Julie,” Congressman Waters said to her as he sipped coffee from a white porcelain cup with the Seal of the Congress on its side. “When are you going to join me for a drink at the Downtown Club? Every Thursday they have an acoustic guitar guy playing music, and the guy’s phenomenal. You have to hear him.”

The young woman turned. “I can’t get into the Downtown Club, Congressman. You know that. It’s for members only, and I’m not a member.”

“Of course you’re not a member,” he laughed. “I know that. But if you say you’ll come this Thursday, I’ll arrange for a pass to be waiting for you at the front door.”

She smiled at him. “I’ll let you know tomorrow. I don’t know what Congressman Daugherty has in store for me, but if I can get off early, I’d like to go.” She focused her attention back to the podium.

John Clayton came up and softly tugged Congressman Waters’s arm, causing him to turn around. “What’s up?” he asked.